


I'll Love You Forever (I'll Like You for Always)

by adubbs47



Series: Happiness is a Journey (Not a Destination) [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Drabbles, F/M, Fluff, One Shot Collection, Team Arrow, Tommy Lives, Tumblr Prompts, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-04-02 05:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4047823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adubbs47/pseuds/adubbs47
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One shot prompt responses, drabbles, and ficlets. They will span a wide variety of topics with any warnings added in each chapter summary. All Olicity. All will be stand alone works, unless otherwise noted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tommy is just now seeing Olicity

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Olicity prompt: Tommy is resurrected and is just now seeing olicity I'm action

Thea still couldn’t believe it. Even after months of searching and preparing herself for this moment, she still wasn’t prepared for the reality of it.

The reality being, Tommy was alive, and sitting in her kitchen.

He kept his head lowered over the cup of coffee Felicity had poured, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Laurel and Oliver and gone to the balcony to have another argument about what they were supposed to do now.

But she didn’t need to think about that just then. She had her recently dead brother, in her kitchen. Her recently dead, formally-evil brother.

Even after knowing for eight months already, it was still unbelievable to her.

She had been the one to confront the new Dark Archer on a Starling City rooftop. Thea Queen was the one to unmask him in the glow of the skyscrapers and city street lights. Thea had been the one to tell John Diggle. The man who had become a trusted mentor and friend, much like he had when Oliver first began his crusade to save the city.

She told him just a half past midnight, sitting in his kitchen with two cups of untouched coffee between them. It had only been forty five minutes since she had found out her long thought, dead brother was alive – and now taking up their father’s mantle – and she had yet to determine how to feel about it.

She assumed she should get used to seeing loved ones she assumed to be deceased, back in the land of the living. Maybe she should have learned that lesson after Malcolm, or even Sara…both times.

Hell, she was herself a good indicator that death was little more than temporary.

Yet, seeing the man she grew up with was jarring. The young, goofy, eager for a party Tommy she had a crush on – which was all kinds of _eww_ now – was alive.

And that made her happy. She had lost too many people and had sacrificed too much in her short life. It was her turn to get something back.

At least that was what she told Diggle after he calmly reminded her that Tommy hadn’t exactly held his punches when she met him. The blueish, purple hints of a bruise already beginning to form beneath her right cheek bone.

Diggle had a point, _of course he did_. The Tommy on the roof, the Dark Archer she met, didn’t seem to recognize her. He seemed to only view her as a gnat he couldn’t seem to swat enough. He wasn’t the Tommy she remembered all those years ago.

But now that he sat with her in her kitchen, head downturned, she couldn’t deny the feeling brewing in chest. It was an overwhelming sense of pain for what Tommy was now going through, regret for not having done enough to get him back when everything started, and … helplessness.

She didn’t know how to talk to him, or help him. It wasn’t every day that your brother comes back from the dead and goes on a killing spree throughout the city in order to honor your father … or maybe for Thea Queen it happened more than she cared to think of.

“They are still going at it out there,” Felicity grunted as she let herself fall into her seat while her hand unconsciously rubbed her bruised shoulder and neck.

Thea followed her gaze to the balcony where Oliver, Laurel, and Diggle all stood. Oliver and Laurel seemed to be silently yelling at one another while Diggle just shook his head. “Thank God Dig’s out there, or they would have probably tried to throw each other over the railing by now.”

Thea chuckled to herself. “Or he’s contemplating throwing them _both_ over.” 

Felicity echoed Thea’s small laugh before placing a soothing hand on her shoulder. Thea appreciated Felicity’s willingness to stay with her and try to take the edge off of the situation. It couldn’t have been easy for her seeing as how Tommy did kidnap her earlier that evening.

Oliver hadn’t taken the abduction, or Tommy’s hand wrapped around his fiancé’s neck as she seemed to come in and out of consciousness, too well. In fact, once they managed to get Felicity to safety – thanks to Laurel’s Canary Cry – Oliver turned around and managed to throw his former best friend into a set of nearby scaffolding. The collapse of the equipment was enough to knock him out, but thankfully did not kill him.

After Tommy woke up, he seemed confused but not homicidal. In fact he seemed like the Tommy he used to be before the Undertaking. It wasn’t until Laurel helped him to his feet and he finally took in his surroundings did the memories of the past eight plus months hit him.

While Oliver held Felicity close to his side, even though Thea knew it was more for his benefit than hers, the group decided to go to the loft to debrief.

The lair had too many weapons lying around and didn’t seem appropriate for the discussion they knew they had to have. Threatening Tommy wasn’t the route to go, especially when they weren’t sure what they were dealing with. By Felicity’s urging, and the look of sheer regret in Tommy’s eyes, Oliver seemed to have calmed down enough.

Laurel was adamant the conversation not be an interrogation, or feel like one. It hadn’t taken much for Oliver and Thea to agree. Felicity agreed they should take it easy with him having been mind-controlled and all, but knew they couldn’t ignore the line of innocent lives that led to Tommy’s door. The deaths Tommy took through order from some other entity.

Diggle stayed quiet, which Thea knew to mean he didn’t agree but knew when to pick his battles.

When Oliver, Diggle, and Laurel moved to talk about their next course of action – away from the still sensitive Tommy – Felicity opted to hang back with Thea. She urged the others to go, using the excuse that she was craving a caffeine fix and an ice pack for her and Tommy’s identical head wounds.

“Everyone is different,” Tommy mumbled so low Thea wasn’t sure she heard him.

“A lot has happened over the past three years.” Felicity spoke in soothing tones, almost nurturing. “Which I’m sure you’ve noticed from the multitude of costumes in the previously nearby vicinity.”

Tommy picked his head up and seemed to look towards the balcony where Laurel was lawyer-ing Oliver. At least that was what Thea interpreted Laurel’s hand movements to mean.

“When did Laurel…?” He began to ask but cut himself short, glancing down at his mug once more.

Thea noticed his hesitation and rushed to finish for him. “She became the Black Canary after Sara died, well the second time.”

At Tommy’s confused glance Felicity attempted. “So cliff notes version, Sara didn’t die when the Gambit sank but became a kick ass, reformed assassin who began fighting crime with Oliver as the Canary. She then died, but was brought back to life by the same magical hot tub I’m guessing brought you back.”

“And Laurel,” Tommy gestured. “She started fighting crime with Oliver, too?”

The words seemed to form a bitter taste in his mouth as he tried to swallow the information he was just given.

Felicity nodded, glancing over her shoulder to wince at the group who all seemed to be engaging in a serious staring contest. “We’re still working on the team dynamics.”

“And Thea?” Tommy gestured towards his sister, eyes beginning to fill. “I almost killed you.”

Thea shook her head, knowing that she would forgive him almost anything just as she would Ollie. He was her brother, but she wasn’t sure if he knew that.

“It was barely a scratch.” She told him honestly, tipping the corner of her lips as she did. 

She knew that if she could minimize the pain he was feeling, the guilt that was surely overwhelming him, then maybe she could make things better.

Felicity reached over to take Thea’s hand in her own, squeezing it once underneath the table, but not letting go.

Tommy’s eyes now switched to Felicity, as if seeing her for the first time. Thea knew he must have started to put all the pieces together. Even though he had spoken to each of them since regaining consciousness and spending time alone with Thea and Felicity, he must not have really replayed the last few hours.

“Felicity, you set up the internet in the club. Oliver’s friend.” There was no question to his words, just slow realization. “I kidnapped you.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time that happened.” Felicity waved him off and seemed to have meant it.

Tommy only shook his head at her rebuttal. “I held you hostage and threatened to kill you. I choked you … and hit you over the head. You were unconscious.”

“Again, not the first time.” This time Felicity looked at him straight on, her tone was one Thea learned not to mess with. “Tommy, seriously, it wasn’t you.”

Thea watched as he worked his jaw, trying to attempt a response when the door to the balcony shut with a resounding bang.

“Felicity,” Diggle huffed as he approached the table, shoulders rigid and tense. “I’m tapping you in.”

Felicity gave Thea’s hand another squeeze and shot a comforting glance in Tommy’s direction. There would be time for them to talk more later when Tommy could come to terms with his actions and catch up on the past three years.

She gracefully stood from her seat at the table and moved towards the balcony where she would work her magic. Thea could almost pinpoint the moment Tommy’s eyes caught sight of the platinum band encrusted with a modest set of diamonds on Felicity’s left hand.

More puzzle pieces coming together.

“You’d think it was World War three out there.” Diggle shook his head as headed towards the coffee maker.

Thea wanted to respond but kept her eyes on Tommy. His facial expression seemed to be frozen on the image of Felicity’s hand on the handle of door to the balcony.

“They,” Tommy choked. “Oliver, he’s … him and Felicity?”

Thea and Diggle exchanged a glance over the top of Diggle’s mug, unsure how much to tell Tommy. While Felicity was comfortable giving him the cliff notes version while Oliver and Laurel argued on how much to tell their friend, and in what order, Thea did not.

They all knew Tommy needed to know what happened while he was … away, but telling him too much too fast could cause too much damage. It would be information overload. Not to mention the information they still had to get from him, and she knew the words ‘medical workup’ were coming at some point. 

“Yeah, they are together,” Diggle told him. “You’re a lucky man, Merlyn. Lesser men have died for doing less to Felicity than what you did tonight.”

Tommy opened his mouth to respond when the door from the balcony opened slowly. Oliver, Laurel, and Felicity all reentered the apartment, calmer than when they left.

“Oliver and Laurel have agreed on pizza.” Felicity stood proud between the two as they came to a halt in front of the kitchen.

“Pizza?” Thea asked, looking skeptically between her older brother and Laurel. 

“Yes, they agreed that we had all had a busy night and we were well overdue for some dinner, right?” Felicity nudged Oliver.

Thea smirked as Oliver inhaled before nodding along with his fiancé. “Yep.”

“And we also agreed that while we were eating dinner we would talk about what has happened over the past three years, including Tommy’s time away, right?” Felicity glanced at Laurel who turned to give Tommy a hesitant smile.

Thea watched as Tommy turned to Diggle who tried to hide his smirk beneath his mug. When his eyes turned to land on Thea she only shrugged.

“We all learned a long time ago that it’s better to just agree.” Thea filled in the blanks.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m a little slow on the uptake what with dying, coming back from the dead, killing countless people, and then holding my best friend’s fiancé hostage.” Tommy paused with an apologetic glance in Oliver and Felicity’s direction. “But what the hell just happened?”

“Felicity made a good point,” Laurel replied as she moved towards the half empty coffee pot. “We’re a team, for better or worse.”

They each looked to Oliver for a reaction. He was the one who had been torn the most tonight. His best friend kidnapped the love of his life, and for two very tenuous hours, Oliver thought he would have to put down his best friend.

But Oliver’s only response was a relaxed smile as he wrapped his arm around Felicity’s waist and pulled her closer into his side. Thea watched as her brother leaned down until his lips grazed the, now forming, black and blue bruise on Felicity’s temple. One of the bruises Tommy gave her.

“Better or worse,” he mumbled as he caught her gaze making Thea question whether or not he had meant for the others to hear it.

She couldn’t help but feel her heart warm at the image they displayed for the rest of them. Her brother had finally found his true partner. He was happy.

“I am still unbelievably lost.” Tommy shook his head.

Thea reached across the table for his hand, taking it in her own with a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll help you find your way.”


	2. The Honeymoon's Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity Drabble Post-3x23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossposted at tumblr a while ago: With all the road trip fics going around (which is a thing of beauty BTW) I couldn’t help but wonder how they would handle returning after spending every day and night together for five months. 
> 
> Just a little one-shot drabble, post 3x23. 
> 
> Rated: Teen

“So, what do we do now?” Felicity voiced once they were alone.

The question was one Oliver struggled with from the moment they crossed the Staring City line. ‘Welcome to Starling City’ the sign had read but what it should have said was ‘the honeymoon’s over.’ At least that was how Oliver felt.

He had spent five months sharing everything with Felicity. From meals to unknown habits, to the bed they slept in at night it had all been laid bare before each other. For better or worse they had been, figuratively, stuck with one another during their extended road trip, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

Learning about the other person had been their favorite past time, twenty questions being their favorite car ride game. Those five months having marked a turning point in their relationship more than any date or catastrophe in Starling ever could. 

They weren’t running for their lives or afraid the next stop could mean their deaths. They were taking their time, enjoying waking up in each other’s arms and arguing about which radio station was to be played. Staying in bed all morning, loving each other and learning each other had been some of Oliver’s best mornings. 

They were bonded now.

And Oliver couldn’t imagine what he was supposed to do now they were back. Back to a reality which included vigilante heroes, bows and arrows, and living with his sister.

Thea had been happy to see her brother, and Felicity, and couldn’t wait to hear all about their trip – after they saved Diggle.

Once the mission had been completed with John home with Lyla and baby Sara, safe and sound, Thea pulled out a bottle of wine and demanded the couple sit and tell her all about their trip. She fully intended to hear all about it after she changed from the night’s activity.

As soon as the couple sat at the kitchen table, to wait for Thea, a silence fell over the room. Both Oliver and Felicity were tired – spent from the unusually active day – and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Road tripping was tiring but more the pleasurable, relaxing kind where both spent hours curled within the haven of the other’s arms far from reality.

In this reality, away from the endless line of motels and hotels, they had two separate beds in two separate locations. 

They both knew Felicity should be heading back to her forgotten town home and he should spend the night in his room of the loft. But now they were back and faced with the very real question of where they would be spending the night.

To some the answer to this would seem easy enough – spend the night together, just as they had been for the past five months. To them is was more difficult. It wasn’t just about where they would spend the night, it was also how.

Their first night back seemed to set an unwritten, unspoken tone they both felt. Where they spent that first night, be it together or apart, made a difference.

“We never talked about this,” Felicity mumbled as she stared down her untouched glass of wine. “All the things we talked about, and this never came up.”

Oliver sat back in his chair, as a feeling of unnerving dread began to crawl beneath his skin. It was silly they should be nervous about this. It was a simple decision, they stay together – the address made no difference.

But for some reason it did. Hotels and motels and sandy beaches weren’t permanent, and this was. At least to him it was, and he was sure if he learned anything about Felicity in the past five months, it was to her, too.

It also brought up in him a feeling of not wanting her to go. He didn’t want to ever be away from her, which he knew was drastic considering they both had to get up in the morning and go about their days as normal. 

She would probably want to go to Palmer Tech and see if there was anything she could help with as Ray was still unaccounted for after five months. He couldn’t exactly follow her around like a little lost puppy all day, every day. 

“I mean, you could just take me home,” Felicity interrupted his thoughts, clearly mistaking his silence. “You probably want to catch up with Thea some more, and we both know no one has been living in my apartment for five months, so I should try to clear out some of those cob webs.”

Oliver nodded as his stomach began to twist at the thought of being away from her for any real length of time. He didn’t even try to school his features either. 

“Seriously, Oliver,” Felicity’s voice, forceful as it was, caused him to pause. “We need some separation. Some distance.”

Now he was confused. Her voice was strong, he heard her words, but he also heard her pleading for him to agree with her. To tell her that ‘yes’ this was what they should do, otherwise they were going to have to be surgically removed from one another. 

“I mean, how are we expected to perform any basic, every day task if we can’t even spend the night apart?” 

While he was caught between knowing if her questions was rhetorical or not she stood from her chair and began to approach him.

He understood what she was doing, and inched his chair back so she could straddle his hips. It was a move she perfected over their five months together. Sitting on his lap seemed more preferable than any other chair or surface – not that Oliver objected.

“When we were gone, it was as if we were in this bubble,” she told him with a sated smile gracing her lips.

“But now we’re back.” He finished

Her slow nod was accompanied by a slight bite of her lip.

“So we’re not spending the night together?” He asked, still unsure of what they were supposed to do, or why they were having a hard time figuring it out.

Felicity let her forehead fall, just close enough that he could meet her with his lips. A soft, tender kiss to her forehead brought a smile back upon her face.

“Or,” she said in a shy tone.

Oliver’s own grin widened at her tone. “Or? I like or.”

“We could just stay here tonight,” she suggested, shrugging her shoulders as she did. “I am really tired. You know, jet lag and what not.”

“We drove.” He supplied, but understood her meaning.

“We can figure out the separation anxiety from hell later, right?” She chuckled and let her head fall to his chest, tucking herself beneath his chin.

“Definitely,” he told her as he cradled her in his arms and placed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “Later.”


	3. Felicity is Oliver's Sugar Mama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fic prompt: Felicity is Oliver’s sugar mama

Felicity could feel Jerry’s nervous-excited glance on her through the glass window pane separating her office from his. How could she not? He had been staring at her on and off for the past hour, at least. Well, today it had been an hour.

Ever since Oliver started bringing lunch to the newly minted Queen Inc. instead of taking her to lunch, Jerry would sit at his desk with perfect posture and as still as a statue. 

Jerry seemed to flip back and forth between being overwhelmingly impressed by Oliver and terrified Oliver would snap him like a twig. It helped that Oliver bought Jerry lunch at least once a week, and always remembered Jerry’s ‘no cheese’ rule. Today she figured he was more excited and less nervous. 

Normally she would try to distract her assistant if his Oliver nerves got the best of him but today it only caused her nerves to tingle. She had just finished meeting with the board and had a conference call after lunch with their London office, and she still had to finish her notes on PRs new re-branding campaign.

She was too tired and frustrated to focus on anything other than the stack of paperwork in front of her. She hadn’t even seen her boyfriend in almost twenty four hours having been stuck in her office overnight due to another boring conference call. 

As she caught him glance in her direction out of the corner of her eye Felicity dropped the portfolio of revenue numbers she was supposed to memorize, before her conference call, a little too forcefully on her desk.

“Whoa there.” Oliver stood in her doorway, hands held high in surrender with a bag of Big Belly Burger and a tray of drinks perfectly level in both. “Should I come back? I’m sure I can wait with Jerry. He seems less nervous today.”

Felicity shook her head, the barest hint of a smile forming at the sight of her very casually dressed boyfriend. God, how did he look so good in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt? The man was surely sent to tempt her.

“No, you’re fine.” She conceded before pushing her chair away from the desk. “I should probably take a break from that report anyway. My eyes are about to go cross eyed.”

Oliver winced as he pulled their food from the paper bag. “I definitely don’t miss reading those.” 

Felicity laughed as she collapsed, unceremoniously to the plush black chair across from him.

“Don’t you mean glanced at?” She prodded. “It would do you well to remember who your assistant was.”

Oliver paused, shifting his gaze to her in an almost guilty expression. 

“I guess signing over the company to a supervillian wasn’t exactly a CEO of the year kind of move.” He shrugged before pointing at the fries he just laid out on a a napkin for her. “I got you extra fries.”

Felicity let a short laugh bubble up from her chest as she eyed up her all too sexy boyfriend. She did miss working with him every day. While she hated taking a job below her obvious skill set, she at least was able to spend time with him, and Diggle. Now she was lucky if she got out of work at any decent hour. 

“You’re a prince,” she said with a wink.

“That’s what they tell me.” He chuckled before unwrapping his own burger. “So, I still make Jerry nervous.”

She watched as Oliver smiled and turned to wave at her assistant.

“Stop doing that.” She reprimanded before taking a bite of her burger. “You wonder why you freak him out all the time.”

“Me?” He questioned innocently, a small drop of ketchup playing at the corner of his lips. “I’m harmless. And Jerry loves me.”

Felicity chuckled before leaning across their coffee table lunch setup to run her thumb over his lips. She cleared the ketchup away before licking the ketchup off of her thumb with a smirk.

“You’re right,” she said with a nod and sarcasm. “You’re as innocent as the tooth fairy only with green leather and a bow and arrow. I’d feel safe with you sneaking into my room at night to take my teeth.”

“Very cute.” He shook his head. “Pretty much everyone stares at me.” 

Felicity paused her fry half way to her mouth. “You’re modest, too.” 

“I mean downstairs,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I guess everyone wonders how I afford all these _amazing_ lunches I spoil you with.”

Felicity smiled at him. “Or they wonder how you got this good looking, intelligent, funny, kind, fair…”

“Now who’s being modest?” His voice was playful as he tipped his head. “You are right though, about the amazing part. You are running my family’s company while I am unemployed. Destitute. No job prospects on the horizon.”

“You’re hardly destitute. I’ve seen your bank account, and I did offer you a job.” Felicity nodded, more than willing to play along. “The mail room could use a man of your skill set.”

“Very funny.” He laughed with her. “But seriously, you’re the one pulling in all the money in this partnership. You’re the brain and the beauty. I’m just the muscle.”

Felicity paused, but Oliver didn’t seem regretful or ashamed. In fact he stuck his chest out as if he were boasting her accomplishments.

“I guess that makes you a kept man, Mr. Queen.” With a shake of her head she brought the straw of her drink to her lips.

Oliver nodded appreciatively before sitting back in his chair. “Feels nice, Ms. Smoak. Very freeing.”

“Well in that case, I’ll be sure to leave you a new set of arrows on the bed side table.” Felicity laughed at his crooked wink. “Compensation for all your hard work.”

Oliver brought a hand to his chest in an exaggerated motion. “A woman after my own heart.”

Felicity gave him a winning smile before turning back to her burger. She caught Oliver glance behind her to the desk full of paperwork.

“I should probably let you get back to work.” He tried to mask his sigh of disappointment as he got to his feet, but she didn’t miss the look in his eyes. “If you don’t bring home the bacon, then we’re going to have to forever eat at Dig’s.”

Felicity smiled at his joke before reaching up to grab his wrist. “I’ve practically memorized everything in those portfolios anyway.”

Oliver tipped his head to the side in confusion.

“Why don’t you stay a little longer?” She asked, hoping that the pleading note she felt was kept from her voice. “What kind of sugar mama would I be if I didn’t spend a _little_ time with my guy?”

A wide grin spread across Oliver’s face as he lowered himself to sit beside her, one hand finding her hair to begin twirling a single strand.

“Your guy, huh?” He asked, leaning closer so that his lips just barely grazed her own.

Felicity pulled back as far as she could with his hands now finding their way around her shoulders and waist.

“Oliver, we can’t.” She protested. “Jerry’s right outside.”

Oliver held back a groan before turning to glance at the window. All it took was a wave of his hand and simple smile, and Jerry was up and out of his seat, rushing towards the elevator.

“Alone at last,” he hummed. 

Felicity’s laughter was cut short as Oliver’s lips claimed hers.


	4. Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle go to Vegas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity prompt: While in Vegas for a mission, Felicity runs into a casino where she has been banned. Oliver and Diggle do not take kindly to her being manhandled by security.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your kind words and kudos. I'm so happy to hear and see everyone's responses!! You're all amazing!

“You guys really did not have to come with me.” Felicity told them as she walked two steps ahead of Oliver and Diggle. 

Both men walked on either side of her, their dark colored t-shirts and stoic struts gaining the glances of the all too eager women on the sidewalk. Felicity just shook her head, knowing the information that those women didn’t. 

Both of these men were happily taken – one of them by her. 

“You’ve said that five times already.” Oliver told her as he tried to catch up to her. “What is the big deal if we tag along?” 

Felicity paused in the middle of the concrete slab, the Nevada sun beating down on her overexposed skin. Living in cooler, damper, less sun filled climates since she left for college had definitely changed her tolerance to the sun, and the heat. She was sure going to be regretting this trip tomorrow. 

The entire trip, not just the one leading up to Caesar’s Palace where her mother worked, had been a disaster in the making. She should have known better than to fall for her mother’s coughing on the phone. Her pleas for Felicity to come spend time with her, and nurse her back to health should have been suspect. 

Donna Smoak had never been sick a day in her life, she told Oliver on her last trip to Starling. Daily exercise (pole dancing classes) and vitamin c (mimosas counted, right?) were her miracles. 

But then Donna told Felicity that if she didn’t come home, her doctor wasn’t going to let her leave the hospital, and Felicity had jumped on the first flight she could find. She was halfway to the airport when she remembered she had to tell Oliver and have Jerry cancel all her meetings. 

When Felicity arrived at the airport in Vegas Donna had been waiting at baggage claim, a large pink sign with a delicate scroll of Felicity Smoak, CEO written across it. That was when Felicity realized that for the first time since she was five years old and her mother tricked her into eating brussel sprouts that she had been duped by her mother. 

“Well you weren’t going to come here unless I tricked you.” Donna told her with no remorse and a tight squeeze. “Besides, now you can take that vacation you’ve been saying you needed.” 

Felicity had rolled her eyes at her well-intentioned mother. 

“See.” Donna shrugged. “Win-win.” 

It had taken Felicity the entire drive back to her mother’s apartment for her to relay the information to Oliver, who had only LOLed as his response. But by the next morning, he and Diggle both were standing on Donna’s doorstep with bags in their hands. 

“You two boys didn’t have to come all this way!” Donna exclaimed as she ushered them into the small two bedroom. “Felicity didn’t tell me you were coming, but hey, the more the merrier.” 

“Well, I just wanted to surprise Felicity on her vacation.” Oliver told them, to which Felicity mouthed back a ‘thank you.’

“I actually have to work.” John told both women. “I’m doing some informational research on Vegas security companies for my new job.” 

Donna smiled even wider before pulling Felicity closer to her side. “Well you can ask Felicity all about those companies. She was banned by security from most of the casinos on the strip before she was twelve.” 

Felicity winced while Oliver and Diggle just shot her an impressed smirk and nod. 

“Hacking?” Oliver asked, even though Felicity knew the implication should have been left as such. 

“They shouldn’t have had such crappy firewalls.” Felicity shrugged. “If anything, I did them a favor.” 

Before Donna left to start her shift she had made the group promise to meet her for dinner during her break. It wasn’t every day that she got to show off her beautiful and talented daughter, and her daughter’s equally as beautiful boyfriend and body guard friend. Both men laughed at her joke while Felicity let her head fall to the table to hide the tell-tale sign of her reddening cheeks. 

While John left to begin his research, Oliver and Felicity spent their day at the apartment complex’s very modest swimming pool. _This_ was Felicity’s idea of a vacation. Just her and Oliver relaxing by the water. It reminded her of their road trip adventure the previous summer and how much she missed just being able to lay with him all day without having to worry about meetings or criminals. 

Simpler times. 

They had had just enough time to fool around in the shower and finish getting dressed for dinner when John arrived with the rental car. Upon arriving at the Grand, Felicity tried to make them wait in the car. It would take her less than a minute to get her mother from the entrance, as long as she was waiting for them like Felicity instructed. She didn’t need an escort to get her mother. 

But both men insisted on coming with. Of course they did. 

“The big deal is that we just had to pay for parking when this will only take a few minutes.” Felicity spun on her heel to point a finger at Oliver and Diggle. “You are wasting valuable coinage.” 

“All right CEO of a multi-billion dollar empire.” Diggle joked. “Let’s go get your mom and go to dinner.” 

True to form, Donna was not waiting out front of the casino. Felicity shook her head, knowing she should have expected this. Of course her mother wouldn’t pay attention to the time and wouldn’t be out front where she needed her to be. Didn’t she remember that this was one of the casino’s Felicity was not allowed at?

Her name and picture had been plastered on their security center walls since she learned how to hack. 

“Well let’s just go inside.” Oliver gestured to the door, unsure of why his girlfriend was cemented to the pavement. 

“I…can’t.” She muttered. 

“Why?” 

“This is one of the casinos I can’t go in.” 

Oliver and Diggle looked back to the building behind them and back at Felicity. “Caesar’s? You hacked Caesar’s?” 

“My mom would bring me with her to work after I got out of school and I would get bored.” Felicity shrugged while taking a cautious step back. 

“You seriously hacked Caesar’s because you were bored?” Diggle asked, an impressed look on his face. Hacking a casino was one thing, but hacking Caesar’s Palace was another. Although he shouldn’t have been shocked. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Felicity said her tone sullen. “I was still too green and they caught me on a technicality.” 

“Didn’t you say you were banned from more than one?” Oliver asked. “How did they catch you?” 

“When I hacked the MGM Grand they kind of shared my information with the other casinos and they figured it out and blacklisted me.” 

Oliver couldn’t hold the smirk from his face, causing his cheeks to dimple. “But your mother has worked here for a long time.” 

“Yes, I know.” Felicity huffed. “Because of my age and her loyal service, they didn’t reprimand her, but she couldn’t bring me to work anymore.” 

Diggle eyed her while trying to picture a ‘young’ Felicity hacking her way through casino security. “How old were you?” 

“Young.” 

The idea that, at any age, she would be caught for hacking was embarrassing. Both men knew it. Felicity was proud of her work and abhorred the idea of being caught. She was better than that. 

“This is hilarious.” Diggle laughed with Oliver. 

“Can you guys just go inside and get my mother?” Both of them could see her frustration as she did her best not to stomp her feet and kept her voice at a reasonable level. 

“Hey!” A loud voice aimed in their direction stopped their laughter. “Felicity Smoak.” 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Felicity groaned. “I didn’t go inside!” 

“Sir, I think there might be some kind of mistake, she hasn’t gone inside the building.” Oliver stepped forward, schooling his features from his earlier amusement. 

“You weren’t supposed to come within fifty feet of this building.” The older man in a white, pressed, button down spoke directly to Felicity as if the other men weren’t there. “I’m gonna have to take you into custody until the police arrive.” 

“What?” Felicity couldn’t help her squeak of shock as the larger man wrapped his beefy hand around her upper arm and made to escort her into the casino. 

Oliver stepped forward once more, no longer enjoying the situation. “Excuse me?” 

Diggle watched as Oliver edged dangerously close to the man holding onto Felicity’s arm and knew he had to do something. Oliver never took kindly to anyone threatening Felicity, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to see Oliver get himself arrested in addition to Felicity. 

Although they could share neighboring cells. 

“I think we all just need to calm down.” He tried as he moved to stand between the larger man and Oliver. 

Felicity, to her credit, didn’t look all too ruffled by the situation. She looked more worried at Oliver’s reaction. The idea that she, a high profile CEO of her own company, would come to Vegas to hack a casino was ludicrous. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” She objected. 

The man let his hold on her arm go before taking a step back. “You’re right.” 

“What?” Felicity took a step towards Oliver while Diggle backed up a step as well. 

All three Starling City residents wore similar reactions of confusion, but the man in front of them only began to grin. Diggle began scoping out the exits, which he was sure Oliver was doing also. 

“Lil’ Smoaky, it’s me, Darren.” The man gestured to himself, large smile still in place. “I used to work at the bar when you were a kid. I kept you supplied with endless bowls of tortilla chips and salsa while you waited for your mom.” 

Felicity seemed to eye the larger man in front of them, trying to figure out whether or not he was being truthful. The memory was familiar, from a distant time when her mother still brought her to work. 

“Darren?” She tested out. “You work in security now?” 

“Yeah, not long after you left for college.” He told her with pride, puffing out his chest as he did. “Don’t worry, we didn’t call the cops.” 

Oliver and Diggle both seemed to deflate with the tension leaving their shoulders only the slightest bit. Diggle knew that this man being more friend than foe helped put Oliver at ease. 

Felicity exhaled a sigh of relief. “Ah, good.” 

The tabloids would have had a field day with the CEO of Queen Inc. being arrested in Vegas with her former ‘party boy’ boyfriend. 

“Heard you were doing well for yourself. Your mom can’t stop bragging about her little genius.” Darren continued in a jovial tone. 

“Yeah, she’s excited.” Felicity nodded, feeling more at ease talking now that she knew she wasn’t being arrested. “How did you know it was me?” 

Darren chuckled in a pointed ‘shouldn’t you know this’ way. “Facial recognition picked you up as soon as you got out of your car.” 

“That picture you have is so outdated, I’m not even blonde in it.” Felicity rolled her eyes. 

She was well aware at how advanced facial recognition software had become. She had programmed Ray’s in the ATOM suit, and performed regular updates each month. 

Still, her changes had been drastic. At least to her they were. 

“Yeah, your mom gives us new pictures when she has them.” 

“Of course she does.” Felicity grunted. “I wouldn’t let her buy me a fake ID, so instead she keeps my casino mug shot updated.” 

Oliver gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, knowing how well the differences between the Smoak women could grate on Felicity’s nerves. Even though they were quite adorable when they were together. 

“The guys in the back say hi, and everyone is happy to see you back on the strip.” Darren noted with a nod and a hint of pride. “You’ve grown up good kid.” 

“Thank you.” The compliment from someone of her past was more than welcome. “We’re just here to pick up my-“ 

Darren stopped them with a quick step to cut off their path and both hands raised. 

“Whoa,” he said, his voice now serious. “You can’t go in there.” 

Diggle looked between the man and the now confused Felicity. “But you just said …” 

“You’ve grown up good, doesn’t mean you’re no longer banned from this fine Las Vegas establishment.” 

For the first time since the altercation began, Oliver and Diggle both laughed. They tried to keep it to themselves at first, but couldn’t hold it back. The look of sheer dismay crossed Felicity’s face as she realized not only was she still banned, but Oliver and Diggle were enjoying it far too much.

“But…” 

Darren only shook his head and crossed his arms. 

“Sorry _lil’ Smoaky_.” Diggle leaned down to whisper before glancing to Oliver. “Guess you’re waiting outside.” 

“Real nice.” Felicity shot him a look of annoyance as he passed her. 

“We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Oliver told her in a soft manner before kissing her cheek. “Love you.” 

Felicity stood on the sidewalk across from Darren the security guard while her boyfriend and friend disappeared into the casino. 

“Real frackin’ nice,” she mumbled before turning to head back to the car. 

It didn’t take a genius to realize she wouldn’t be seeing them or her mother for at least another couple hours.


	5. Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity wakes up after what she believes to be only a few minutes to find a startling realization. Thankfully Oliver is there to comfort her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your love on this fic! I love writing one shots and I love when you all like them as well. I lost half of my original document on this and had to do some rewrite, so I hope you all still like it. 
> 
> Warnings: Angst, Lost Memories, Worried Oliver, Hurt Felicity

It is nearly two in the morning when Felicity opens her eyes. The gentle thrum of machines the first sound to greet her ears after nothing but the dim silence. It had only felt like a few minutes of quiet and darkness after a rush of pain and weightlessness. 

She had heard voices too. Too many voices that hadn’t made sense. There had been angry voices, scared voices, screaming, and the sound of sobbing. She could also remember glass breaking, sirens, and a buzzing in her ear, but she could not place a visual with any of these sounds. They had all culminated into one blaring scream – or beep, she wasn’t quite sure – before the silence. 

But that hadn’t mattered because it had only been a few minutes. 

“There she is.” A gentle voice coos from Felicity’s right side. 

The voice mingles in with the growing sound of machines, each becoming more distinct as the moments tick on. Felicity tries to turn her head to see the source of the voice, but feels an immediate ache begin … everywhere. 

“Hey there.” A woman with an empty plastic bag in hand and a light purple scrub top with pink and purple kittens on it rounds her corner to enter her field of vision. Her voice is as non-threatening as a voice could be. It was soothing, really. “You’re ok.” 

“Where…?” The words she wants to say only scrape against her dry mouth and throat. 

She had only been asleep for a few minutes. 

“Do you remember where you are, sweetie?” Her badge reads ‘Carol, R.N.’ which Felicity knows means she’s a nurse. 

But why would she be talking with a nurse?

Carol reaches beside her to a wooden tray table only to produce a pink plastic cup with a straw. As she sips the cool liquid down her throat, Felicity tries to take a visual inventory of the room. 

There are pale yellow walls with generic art work framed near a white board with faces listed to ‘describe your pain.’ Two boxes of grey gloves stacked on a built in shelving unit along with three different vases of expertly arranged flowers. 

“You have quite the group of friends.” Carol continues as Felicity lets the straw slip from her lips. “They wouldn’t leave your side for a second. Scared half of my nursing staff that’s for sure.” 

“I’m sorry,” Felicity mumbles feebly as her eyes shift to the three bodies slumped in the corner chair and pullout couch, neither of which could be all that comfortable. “What happened?” 

On the couch across from them Thea and Laurel are both cuddled under blankets and stretched in the most uncomfortable angles Felicity had ever seen. In the corner sits John, legs outstretched, head tipped back, and his leather jacket covering his crossed arms. 

“Do you remember where you are?” Carol prompts again, voice still gentle. 

“The hospital?” Felicity questions. 

For some reason her mind was full of fuzz and cotton. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening or how she got here. 

“That’s right.” Carol nods along with an encouraging smile. “Do you remember what happened?” 

Felicity tries to reach back into her mind but can’t make anything out. She remembers leaving QI for the day. She remembers calling Oliver as she walked through the parking garage. She remembers dropping her phone. … But that was it. 

“I don’t,” Felicity shakes her head but immediately regrets it. A wave of nausea rolls through her and in a desperate attempt to stop the movement, Felicity brings both hands to her forehead. Well, tries to at least. 

Her left arm is weighted down with wires, tubes, and a sleeping Oliver. 

“Yeah, he was the scariest of them all.” Carol winks. “Don’t fret, sweetie, with head injuries like yours it’s natural to have a few missing pieces. Especially when you just wake up.” 

Felicity wants to nod her head but doesn’t want a repeat episode of spinning. Instead she slowly turns her head to gaze at the man who still holds tight to her hand while his head rests against her forearm. 

“I haven’t seen a group of friends this adamant about breaking visitation hours in quite some time.” Carol continues as she returns to her task of fiddling with the machines. “He was the worst.” She tips her head towards Oliver. 

“Yeah,” Felicity mumbles. “I figured he might be.” 

“You took quite the nasty fall,” Carol tells her while pulling out a small flashlight. “The doctor is going to want to run a lot of tests when he comes in here.” 

“I fell?” Felicity asks while trying to imagine falling when the last thing she could remember was talking to Oliver and dropping her phone. 

“A fall like yours… Well let’s just say you’re one of the lucky ones.” 

Felicity feels the weight to her left shift slightly. 

“Aww, our second Sleeping Beauty awakes.” Carol sends a warm smile towards Oliver who had begun to lift his head. 

His hands tighten around Felicity’s before he meets her eyes. Her, finally, open eyes. 

“Hey.” His voice a mixture of a whisper and of awe. Felicity could see the sleep leave his gaze only to be replaced by the well of moisture in both of his eyes. “You’re awake.” 

She wants to speak to him, wants to nod to his answer, but is caught in the mixture of pain and relief washing over his very being. He’s tense yet relaxed all at once. 

“Felicity, sweetie,” Carol breaks her stare. “I’m going to get the doctor so he can come and check you out, but I wanted to ask you how your pain was first.” 

Felicity tries to focus on the pain she’s supposed to be feeling. There is some pain but mostly a fog in her mind. It’s a heavy pressure like a dark veil keeping her memories of whatever happened to her from her. The throbbing she felt when she first woke up can’t be defined. It’s everywhere, yet nowhere all at once. 

It’s like her body is telling her she should be in pain, but refusing to admit to it. 

“Umm,” Felicity searches once more, looking to Oliver for assurance. “I’m ok, just confused.” 

Carol nods in kind before giving her hand a gentle pat. “You must still be riding high on the morphine they gave you earlier.” 

“When will that wear off?” Oliver asks, his voice laden with worry. 

Carol looks at him with sympathy. Felicity wonders for the first time just how long Carol had been her nurse, and how long she had been here. It was becoming very clear to Felicity that she hadn’t only been asleep for a few minutes. 

“It’s hard to say.” Carol looked to Felicity now. “But it is important for you to tell me when it does.” 

Felicity tried to give a nod of agreement, but felt the room sway once more. She snapped her eyes shut and held her breath while she waited for it to stop. 

“Felicity,” Oliver’s frantic voice was close to her ears now. “Felicity.” 

When she opens her eyes Carol and Oliver are both staring at her with concern. “Everything spins when I move too quickly.” 

Carol seems to understand but Oliver only grips her hand tighter. 

“I’m going to go get you something for the motion sickness while I call the doctor.” 

Oliver nods his thanks before turning back to Felicity. When she sees his eyes, welling with tears and brimming with terror she feels so sorry for what she was causing him to go through. 

When Oliver was injured all those times she had moments where she felt the same. Moments when she thought she might lose him. At the end of the day, though, she always knew how strong he was and how much he had already overcome in his life. Oliver was a survivor … her survivor. 

She could only imagine what it must have felt like for him to have to see her on a hospital bed with wires and tubes going everywhere. She wasn’t as strong as him, and he knew that. That must have been terrifying for him. 

"Hey.” His voice is soft and sweet with his blue eyes not straying far from her own. “You really scared me.” 

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs before closing her eyes. The feeling of pain had begun to crawl through the base of her neck and her right arm. “What happened?” 

Oliver lifts her left hand to his lips, closing his eyes while he tenderly kisses his way around the back of her hand and over to her palm. 

“There was a struggle.” His voice is muted as he lifts his head, but keeps his eyes on the monitor behind her head. “We were on the phone, arguing about whose turn it was to take out the trash.” 

Felicity remembered that. She called him after work to make sure he took the trash out before he went to the lair. They had made chicken for a late night dinner and she was sure if they left the garbage any longer it would start to smell. She swore that it was Oliver’s turn, and it was, but he kept saying it was hers. In the end she knew he would cave and agree with her, she just had to wear him down a little more, but she dropped her phone just as he had been about to agree. 

Lifting her eyes to see tear tracks begin to trace their way down the planes of his cheeks, Felicity realizes she hadn’t just dropped her phone. The throbbing at the base of her neck only served to remind her that she had been hit. She had been knocked unconscious. 

Her mouth becomes dry as she remembers succumbing to the darkness, fearing for her team, and not knowing what this person (or persons) wanted with her. She momentarily forget she was more than just a computer geek – she was a very wealthy and powerful computer geek – but to her that didn’t make her any more important. 

She wasn’t oblivious to her new celebrity or power she wielded over Starling City’s elite. She was the youngest CEO of the city – of the country – but her relationship with the various vigilantes across the nation made her more important. It was why Oliver had insisted on the usage of a codename. 

“How did you get me back?” Felicity tries to swallow over the lump in her throat before continuing. “How did you save me?” 

Oliver coughs before using the back of his hand to swipe at the remaining moisture on his cheeks. 

“I didn’t.” 

Felicity was confused, again. If Oliver hadn’t saved her, then … She looks to the team wondering who she should offer her thanks to. 

“Then who …?” 

Oliver takes a breath before squeezing her hand. “You did.” 

Felicity tips her head to the side, unsure if he is being serious or not. Although, why would he lie? She was lying in a hospital bed in what she assumed was a bad condition if it warranted the entire team pulling a sleepover in her room. 

“I don’t,” she stuttered. “I can’t remember it.” 

“The doctor said that might happen.” Oliver keeps his voice soft. “An eye witness saw you jump out of a third story window but didn’t see anyone push you. The doctor said you had a severe head wound and some minor bleeding on your brain.” 

Felicity watches as Oliver keeps swallowing, pausing, to take in his own words. It’s as if he still can’t believe it. 

“You also have a fractured wrist and a few broken ribs.” He continues on. “Your lung collapsed in the ambulance and they had to …” 

Oliver cuts himself off and looks over at her monitors once more. Felicity watches as his eyes become clouded with what she assumes is a memory. 

She wishes she could remember what happen, what had caused him to look as though he was consistently being tortured. But maybe that was a gift. If her injuries were as severe as Oliver said, maybe she didn’t want to know. 

“You had emergency surgery.” His voice returned, his eyes now focused on her. “There was some internal bleeding.” 

Felicity nods, finally not feeling the room spin with it. At least that was subsiding. 

“How long was I out?” She dares to ask. 

“Forty eight hours.” His voice is low, his eyes dark. 

After spending so many months wondering if he had been dead or if he was ever coming home, she knows what that must have felt like for him. The waiting and imagining. The worry and terror clawing at your skin, but not wanting to believe you’ll never get a chance to say ‘I love you.’ You’ll never get a chance to see the other person smile, or feel their lips against your skin. 

It was the worst pain imaginable. 

“And the sleep over crew over there?” Felicity gestures with her good hand, which he had finally released to rub the exhaustion out of his eyes. “How long have they been here?” 

“On and off for the past two days.” Oliver nods along. “None of them wanted to leave in case you woke up and needed anything. I think everyone feels guilty that we didn’t get to you quick enough.” 

Felicity scrunches her nose as the worry lines creased into Thea’s forehead become visible and the way John wrapped his hands into tight fists on the edges of his jacket. 

“If we got there you wouldn’t have had to jump out a window, and you wouldn’t have …” 

“Hey.” Felicity quiets him. “We don’t know what happened. My memory is still a bit absent.” 

Oliver nods before letting his free hands trace along her forehead, pausing at what she assumes is another bandage near her temple. 

“And you?” She tries, hoping to get him to open up. 

“The nurses threatened to remove me, but I won them over with my boyish charm.” He tells her, his face stoic as he continues to let his fingers run over her matted hair and down her temple again. 

“I’m sure. That’s probably why Carol said you were scary.” Felicity muses, her eyes focused on his. 

“Naw, I was just insistent.” He winks and grins, although it doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “I had to be here when you woke up.” 

Felicity once again knows that feeling. How many times had she stayed in the lair to wait for him to wake up from whatever injury had rendered him unconscious? How many nights had she kept her eyes glued to him as he stitched up his own wounds, his face tensing with pain? 

“Well I’m glad you were.” She whispers. “I like waking up to you, especially after extended naps.” 

Her attempt at a joke is thin, and she knows Oliver knows that, but he humors her anyway. 

“Likewise.” He murmurs as he leans forward so that his lips are only a breath away from her own. “But let’s try to avoid the ‘extended naps’ for a little while.” 

Felicity can’t help the grin on her face. “You’ve got a deal.” 

As his lips brush against her own she knows that just as he would do anything she asked, she also can’t deny him anything. 

And she wouldn’t have it any other way.


	6. Tommy Lives Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Hi, I love your stories and I was wondering if you could write a fic where Oliver is mourning Tommy and Diggle comforts him, maybe bringing some of Oliver's PTSD to light? Love your stuff xoxo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This morphed into a follow up piece to the Tommy Lives-AU I did about a month back. I will be adding more parts to the universe, but this prompt really helped to get me into gear

Oliver took a deep breath as if coming up for air as the nightmarish memory faded from his mind. The image of Tommy’s gloved hand as it squeezed a little tighter around Felicity neck was still burned into his brain. The fear for Felicity’s life and the grim realization he felt at having to be the one to put his best friend down still lingered on the outskirts of his mind.

Tommy was his best friend, his brother, for most of his life. Seeing his best friend hold the life of the woman he loved with such all-consuming control was the worst image imaginable. It was worse than Slade, the Count, and Cooper combined.

Those men were expendable. Those men crossed the line when they took the woman he loved, threatened her life, and brought on weeks and months’ worth of nightmares to her doorstep. Oliver hated taking a life, but for those men he would have made an exception (and in one case he did). As he told her once, there was no choice to make.

But when the man who threatened to take away the one good and pure thing in his life was his best friend Oliver felt that choice weight down upon him. For the briefest of moments, staring into Tommy’s darkened eyes, he wanted the choice to be easier.

Because Tommy, or no, there was no choice to make.

“You ok?” Felicity’s sleep addled voice was scratchier than normal as she brought a light hand up to caress his cheek.

“I should be the one asking you that.” He murmured as he took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze as he brought it to his lips.

Felicity hummed as she burrowed her face into his shoulder, placing a kiss to his deltoid before turning to give him a serene smile.

“I’m more than ok.” He cocked his head as if to say he was calling her bluff. “I’m no worse for wear.” She asserted in a more forceful tone. “And you saved the day. You saved me and Tommy.”

She would be the person who was more worried about him in this whole debacle. Even thought she was the one who he had been so close to losing. Would she have held that note of pride in her voice had he made the choice to kill Tommy? He had been so close.

When he threw Tommy into that scaffolding he had only been seeing Tommy’s hands wrapped around her neck, the slow trail of blood stemming from her forehead, the way her eyes glossed over as he was sure she had a concussion … He hadn’t been trying to wake Tommy up.

“Would you have been mad if I hadn’t?” He dared to ask.

Felicity squirmed a bit against his side, angling to get a better look at his face.

“Would I have been made if you hadn’t saved me?” She voiced with a hint of humor. “I mean, I’m sure I would have been dead so I wouldn’t have been one to hold a grudge, but I’m sure if I could have haunted anyone it would have been you.”

Oliver saw how her eyes sought his in a hint of desperation. He felt the way her hand tightened around his own. She knew he hadn’t meant her. He would always save her.

“Felicity,” he drawled out, letting a breath of air escape as he did.

“Ok, so let’s say you had killed Tommy to save me.” Felicity sat up now, fully awake. “Let’s say when you tossed him around like you did, you ended the life of your childhood best friend.”

Oliver let himself imagine it for a second. The thought of Tommy not having gotten up when he had, the idea that Oliver would have been the one to take his life … it was all too much. In some ways, though, it was all he could see.

“See, the way your eyes and forehead did that thing,” Felicity pointed out. “You may think you are capable of a great many things, maybe even killing Tommy to save me, but you aren’t.” 

“But I had been so close.”

“But you didn’t.” She challenged. “Oliver, you have killed before. You killed to save me.”

Oliver lowered his head tearing his gaze away from hers.

“I was there, I saw your eyes when you fired not one, but three arrows into the Count.” She told him before leaning low to find his eyes. “Don’t you think I know what you are capable of?”

He felt the tears well up in his eyes and the moisture cloud over his vision.

“You didn’t kill Tommy when you could have so many times before you threw him into that scaffolding because you don’t kill people anymore.” She let her hand trace his scars and tattoos along his chest as she tried to soothe him. “You may not realize it, but you found a way to save us both, because that’s who you are. A hero.”

She punctuated the word with a swift kiss to his lips before she let her forehead rest against his own.

“You’re my hero.”

~~~

Despite her words, Oliver could not find rest in his king bed beside Felicity. By the sounds of her uneven breathing, he knew she was awake as well, but didn’t say anything as he left the bed. She must have known he needed a moment to himself. A moment to process the evening’s activity.

When Thea said she would help Tommy figure out his place on the team, Oliver knew she meant it. After living through most of her adolescence shrouded in lies and deceit, this team showed her what it meant to be a part of something. He had watched his baby sister mature and become a person he had only hoped he could be.

She was a hero.

Thea had made her way without taking lives and without harming those who stood in her way. His code had been based in vengeance and a bold sense of justice. Thea’s was code of honor and founded in morality and purity. He was forever thankful that her pure, innocent heart, no thanks to Malcolm Merlyn, was still intact.

Felicity may call him a hero, but the real hero was Thea. She was the one who discovered Tommy and labored for months to try and bring him home. She was the voice of reason in his head when Tommy took Felicity.

_“He doesn’t know what he’s doing, Ollie.” She told him, firm and resolute. There was no waver in her voice. “We can save them both.”_

He had wanted to believe her. He desperately tried too. From the moment she told him that Tommy was alive he had felt a small sliver of hope spring to life inside of him. Watching Tommy die amidst the rubble and ruins of the Glades, Oliver felt a part of himself die also.

When they heard the news, Felicity had clung to his arm, knowing what this must have meant to him. The chance to get Tommy back. It was one of his unspoken dreams.

Yet, there was still a part of him which denied his hope. A part of him who remembered seeing Sara fresh from the Lazarus Pit. Her mind was riddled with darkness and delusions. She was volatile, dangerous, and lost. 

Nyssa told them there would be consequences. Sara had been gone for much longer than Thea had. Her body had already begun to decay and her soul had long since left this earth. The transition would not be an easy one, if it were possible. Tommy had been dead a lot longer than her.

But she came back. She was Sara now. It had been a struggle, but she was almost herself again. Could Tommy ever come back to himself after what he’d been through?

“What are you still doing up?” Oliver felt the presence behind him as he leaned his elbows against the balcony railing.

He turned around so his back was to the cityscape, and he was now facing Diggle. John Diggle looked more tired than Oliver felt. Sleep must have been hard for him to come by as well.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Oliver rebutted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

John took a step towards the railing, his eyes on the horizon before them.

“Yeah, it’s hard to sleep when you have a former assassin sleeping in the next room.” He tried to keep his tone light, but Oliver heard the meaning behind it. Until he trusted Tommy, he wouldn’t be sleeping in his near vicinity.

Oliver felt the same shame from earlier fall like lead in his stomach. He knew what Diggle meant, and sympathized with that feeling. He couldn’t trust Tommy. Not yet.

“You ok?” Oliver turned to face Diggle, whose eyes were surveying the younger man. “You’ve been quiet ever since Felicity dragged you and Laurel away from your grudge match, and now you’re not sleeping.”

Oliver dragged a hand down the contours of his face, wiping away at the mess of the last twenty four hours. There was too much going on in his head right now to answer that question the right way. The truth was, he was not ok.

Tommy wasn’t dead, but he had tried to kill Felicity.

Tommy wasn’t dead, but Oliver tried to kill him.

Tommy wasn’t dead, but he could only imagine the torture his friend had to face to get to that point. What had Tommy faced that led him to being on a rooftop in Malcolm Merlyn’s hand me down robes, taking up the cursed mantle and landing a solid punch on his baby sister six months ago?

It was too much for Oliver to even consider. How could he tell anyone what he was really feeling?

“I’m fine.” Oliver said instead, although not convincingly enough for the man beside him.

Diggle only sighed in response, knowing Oliver wasn’t admitting his true emotions.

“How’s Felicity?” He asked instead. “She must have been pretty shaken up.”

She had been, but his girl never let that keep her down long. Although he did suspect her reluctance to go to sleep had been ten percent her response to his anxiety and ninety percent her own.

“She’s managing.”

Diggle turned to lean against the railing, keeping his back to the city behind him.

“Are you?” Diggle asked him, leaning towards him by half an inch “Managing?”

Oliver didn’t respond. The guilt he felt was better left unsaid.

“Because it seems to me that your best friend coming back from the dead to become one of your worst adversaries is something that would require some time to process.” Diggle kept his eyes on the concrete balcony flooring and his voice soft. “Hell, when you did your stint as Al Sahim I wasn’t sure if I was going to hug you or punch you.”

Oliver turned to meet Diggle’s eyes and found no malice within them.

“That was before you kidnapped Lyla.” Diggle added as an afterthought.

“And after?” He couldn’t explain it, but Oliver wanted Diggle to confirm Oliver’s feelings. He wanted his trusted friend and mentor to tell him that it was ok to feel this way. Especially about someone he loved as much as Tommy.

Diggle seemed to contemplate his own answer, swallowing down his own rough truths. Their relationship had been altered by Oliver’s actions, those he had been cognizant of at the time. Oliver had to work twice as hard to earn Diggle’s trust back, and even then, their relationship hadn’t been the same.

Oliver watched Diggle swallow hard before clearing his throat. “To see someone you trust with all aspects of your life…To see your best friend, your brother, come after your family … It brings out a different side in a man.”

He heard the pain in Diggle’s voice and now heard the double meaning in his words. Tommy had done to him what he had done to Diggle. The only difference being Tommy hadn’t been himself when he took Felicity. Tommy could cite the Lazarus Pit and months of torture as a precursor to his actions. Oliver didn’t have such an excuse.

Yet, Oliver still felt torn between hating his best friend and being grateful he was alive. That was the source of his guilt.

“Did you want to kill me?” Oliver asked, catching Diggle off guard. “I’m only asking because that’s what I wanted to do.”

Diggle leaned back as if he were absorbing the full gravity of Oliver’s words.

“When I threw him into that scaffolding I wanted to kill him. I wanted to take away any chance he had of hurting my family.” Oliver could still feel the anger rolling beneath his skin. He could still feel the desperation at not being able to get to Felicity fast enough. “He was my best friend since we were kids, Dig. He’s been through hell and I wanted to kill him. How could I have wanted that? What kind of person does that make me?”

“It makes you human.” Diggle told him without missing a beat. “And considering your past experiences, seeing Tommy come back like that must have brought up a lot of old memories from the island, and Slade.”

“The island was so long ago.” To Oliver it was. So much had happened in between then and now. “It almost feels like a different lifetime.”

“Kandahar was a lot further back than Lian Yu and I still catch myself having those flashbacks.” Diggle stared into his hands, reliving a long forgotten moment. “It’s like I never left.” He turned to the younger man, a man just as lost as he was. “Just because you think you’ve left your war behind you, Queen, doesn’t mean it ever really leaves you.”

“So you’re saying that me wanting to kill my best friend is ok?” Oliver cocked his head to the side. “Somehow I don’t think that’s what you’re saying.”

“You changed on that island, and you kept changing when you came home. Wanting to kill someone isn’t the healthiest response, but considering what you’ve been through I would say that not killing him is.” Diggle took a deep breath, pausing to consider his words.

“I still feel like he’s dead. Like the guy inside isn’t really him.” Oliver redirected.

“It takes some time to cope with that too.” Diggle told him with a level of experience. “Seeing you come back as yourself after Al Sahim wasn’t easy … but we got through it.”

“How did you forgive me for that?” Oliver couldn’t help but wonder. In true fashion, they hadn’t really talked about how to overcome that pivotal act. They just did. “I kidnapped Lyla. I left Sara alone. I knew full well what I was doing. How can you even stand to be near me right now?”

Oliver watched his friend turn in the other direction with a frown settled on his face. Oliver wondered if maybe he pushed too hard. After living through Tommy’s return he now knew firsthand what he had put the team through during that period of time. He now knew what it felt like to see someone you love betray you. 

“Because you’re my brother.” Diggle settled on with a slight sheen of restrained moisture in his eyes. “Just like Tommy’s yours, and whatever stuff you two have to go through to get that relationship back, you’ll do.”

Oliver knew that Diggle wasn’t just talking about his relationship with Tommy. They were brothers, he and Diggle. While the past couldn’t be rewritten, they could rebuild from it. And if he knew anything, he knew that if he and Diggle could grow from what he had done, then the same could be said for Tommy too.


	7. Hope- Tommy Lives Part iii

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This little drabble, and the previous two of the series, were based off the prompt: 
> 
> Olicity prompt: Tommy is resurrected and is just now seeing olicity I’m action
> 
> I loved writing Part 1 so much it became a full on drabble series. This part is more centered around Tommy and Felicity with some mentions of Olicity and MerLance. Thank you to all who enjoyed the other parts of this universe. 
> 
> I swear I do intend to write something other than this universe for this fic. This is just where my muse is taking me right now.

Tommy couldn’t sleep, not that he hadn’t tried. Every time he closed his eyes he could only see faces he didn’t know and hear voices that were muffled behind shrouded masks. He couldn’t help but think the people he saw were blank. Their eyes were empty and devoid of any emotion as they stared down at him while he writhed on what he could only imagine was a stone slab.

He still felt the pain of his wound from the metal pipe stitching itself back together. His skin slowly knitted itself in agonizing threads of muscle, nerves, and skin. He felt every second of it and wanted desperately to scream for it to stop, but his breath was stolen by the heavy fluid forcing its way into his lungs. As much as he sputtered and gasped in effort to reach the air, he only took on more water.

Waking up, in Thea and Oliver’s loft, he could finally feel the air permeate his lungs, filling his chest and forcing him upright in the bed. It didn’t matter though. The memories of his fight from death and return to life still haunted him.

When Oliver threw him into the scaffolding the first memory that returned to him – the only memory he could draw upon – was of Oliver. His best friend was pleading with him not to go. The air was thick with smoke and debris and Oliver was crying. His first memory of the past two years was of his best friend, and that filled him with hope.

He hadn’t left Oliver, just like Oliver hadn’t left him all those years ago. They had another chance to repair their damaged relationship.

But then he opened his eyes and saw the feral expression marking his friend’s face as he pushed the blonde IT girl (who had worked on the club’s internet a couple times) behind him, the terrified glances Thea was sharing with Oliver’s bodyguard, and the frozen look of heartbreak crossing Laurel’s eyes. None of them screamed happiness and hope as he thought they would.

As the memories flooded back he found himself understanding their reluctance. There were images of faces and places, smells he couldn’t recognize, and acts he must have committed, but it all felt foreign to him. The feel of dried blood caked beneath his fingernails as he took another life wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard he scrubbed in the shower he took after dinner.

“Are you seriously brooding in the kitchen at four in the morning instead of curled up …” Tommy glanced over at where Felicity stood in the entrance to the Queen’s kitchen. “You’re not Oliver.”

Tommy glanced over to where Oliver and Diggle sat on the balcony of the loft, deep in conversation.

“He and Mr. Diggle don’t quite trust me enough to sleep while I’m here.”

Felicity’s eyebrows knitted together as she glanced briefly to where Oliver and John sat, both staring out at the city skyline. He could see the recognition in her eyes, the understanding that he was right in his assumption.

“I guess none of us are getting much sleep tonight.” To his surprise her voice held no accusation as she lifted her lips in a gentle smile. “So, what’s your poison?”

“What?” Tommy blinked at the sudden change.

Tommy watched as Felicity moved to the end cabinet before pulling two bottles of different colored liquid up for him to view.

“We have whiskey and we have vodka.” Felicity placed both bottles on the countertop before reaching for a couple of glasses. “Oliver hides the good vodka at home, but Thea’s collection isn’t that bad either.”

Tommy didn’t reply, but moved towards where Felicity was speaking in rapid succession. He wondered if she was aware none of what she said made sense to him. His head was still too jumbled from earlier and all he could catch was that Oliver didn’t live at the loft with Thea like he thought.

“So what’ll it be?” Felicity turned on him, a forced grin on her face.

“I’ll have the whiskey.” Tommy’s words were short and stilted as he caught sight of the bruising crawling up her pale neck. He did that.

“I think I’ll have the whiskey too.” She winked before pouring two fingers in each glass. “I’m more of a red wine girl myself, but I think tonight calls for the hard stuff.”

Tommy traced the outline of her face and the way her hair was pulled back in a low ponytail. She looked just the same as she had the day they first met, but there was an air of maturity – maybe it was a lack of innocence – about her now.

“Do you remember when we first met?” Tommy blurted as Felicity swallowed a sip from her glass, wincing as the liquid burnt a path down her still tender throat. “It was at the club.”

Felicity nodded her answer before shifting her serious gaze to him. “Do you?… Remember, I mean.”

Tommy looked into his glass as the image of a bright young IT girl muttered about billionaires skimping on their internet security and probably just buying a random router at Best Buy or somewhere. He could see why Oliver liked her.

“Yeah I do.” He nodded. “Things are a little jumbled, about the past three years.”

“You’ve been through a lot.” She confirmed. “I’d be worried if it wasn’t.”

“But before I…died.” He winced as the smoke began to cloud his vision. With a cough, he made an exerted effort to clear his lungs and return to the loft. “Those things are still clear.”

Felicity waited for him, a patient look in her eyes. It was as if she had had practice with this sort of thing, making her a well-versed pro by now. She and Thea had told him Sara was alive, and he knew his father was alive. He wondered how many non-dead people had come back into their lives.

“So seeing Thea and Laurel dressed up in leather was probably a shocker.” Felicity snorted.

It had been a shock to see Thea on that rooftop six months ago, although at the time he hadn’t been able to place what he felt for her. A strong brotherly attachment, a familial tie had been severed by the years of conditioning.

He was still trying to block Laurel out. His feelings were too messed up and complicated to understand what he was feeling.

He loved her, he died saving her, but she slept with Oliver – which he knew he had been mad about three years ago. He also had an endless parade of blood on his hands. None of which could he burden Laurel with.

“I think if you ask her, she wouldn’t see it as a burden.” Felicity hummed. “Laurel’s pretty tough these days and doesn’t need the coddling.”

Tommy stared back at her in question. Had he been speaking out loud?

“Just my opinion, which you didn’t ask for.”

He didn’t reply, but turned to glance at the balcony door. It was still closed with both men in their staring contest with the city. Everyone was so different. Thea, Oliver, Laurel, none of them were even close to the same people he remembered.

“You’re engaged to Oliver.” Thea had told him earlier when he saw the ring. It had been beautiful before, but the way the stone reflected the light as they stood in the kitchen only made it more brilliant.

“Yeah.” Her cheeks seemed to blossom red and a secretive smile perked up her lips. “I know it must seem weird to you with me being the girl from the club with frizzy hair and glasses who was probably not your Oliver’s type.”

“He’s not my Oliver anymore.” He cut her off, a sad tone flowing through his words. “I barely recognize him.”

“Give it time.” Felicity encouraged him. “He’s been through a lot, and the situation between us all tonight was hardly idyllic.”

“You mean me kidnapping his fiancée and nearly killing you before he swooped in and started fighting me before tossing me into a not so sturdy piece of scaffolding?”

“See,” Felicity gestured with her glass in one hand. “You two have had a rough night.”

“I can see why he’s with you.” Tommy fought the grin she was bringing out.

“Don’t say it’s my charming personality, because I swear it’s my incomparable good looks and sexy brain.”

This time Tommy couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled past his lips.

“What’s going on?” Tommy froze at the sound of Oliver’s voice coming from behind him.

“Hey,” Felicity cooed, a smile lighting her features almost brighter than the sun. “I thought Tommy was you, but you were on the balcony brooding with John.”

“I was not brooding.” Oliver argued.

“No, no, you’re right.” Felicity nodded unbelievably. “You two were probably talking sports or something.”

“Felicity was just keeping me company.” Tommy added with the sudden need to justify her presence with him.

“I made Tommy laugh.” Felicity smiled with pride. “So that makes me two for two.”

Both men took on perplexed expressions as they waited for her to continue.

“I got your first real smile when you came back from the island, your words.” She directed to Oliver. “And now I got Tommy’s first laugh. Seriously though, I should get paid by the hour for the work I do with you superhero type.”

“It must be exhausting.” Oliver filled in for her as Felicity began to yawn. “Why don’t you head back to bed, and I’ll be up in a little while.”

Tommy watched as the two exchanged a wordless conversation that made him want to avert his eyes. He hadn’t seen Oliver like this … well, ever. Not with Laurel or any other girl he’d been with. This Oliver, this man before him, was protective, loving, and devoted. Tommy saw the love in his eyes every time he looked to Felicity. It was hard to miss.

“Hey man, I’m going to head out,” Diggle announced behind them all as he closed the balcony door. “I’m going to try to get home before Sara wakes up.”

Tommy tried not to let the confusion enter his mind once more at Sara’s name. There would be time for those questions later.

Oliver gave the older man a nod and a one armed hug before John Diggle left the loft, only glancing to Tommy with a hesitant nod. Tommy knew he would have a lot of work to do on gaining everyone’s trust, especially John Diggle.

“I think bed does sound like a good idea.” Felicity interrupted. “You two play nice.”

Oliver kissed her on the lips, quick at first, as one arm banded around her waist. Tommy watched how careful Oliver was with her. Oliver was a man who had callouses on his hands and worked hard with those hands, yet he took care to treat Felicity Smoak as if she were made of some precious metal.

Tommy would never say she was made of glass. The Felicity Smoak he met when he kidnapped her, and the woman he spoke with in the kitchen, was definitely harder to break than glass.

And as he watched his childhood best friend kiss his fiancée, and love of his life, goodnight, he felt that hope spring within him once more. If Oliver Queen, the man who spent five years in his own hell and had complete heinous acts, could come back stronger … well then maybe Tommy had a chance after all.


	8. Separation Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous prompted: I took this from a prompt list I hope you don't mind "you had a business trip and i missed you so much that i kind of tore up the house in your absence like a dog with separation anxiety… sorry?"

The trip had been a mistake from the very beginning. She knew that for certain.

Not that a business trip turned girls’ weekend in London, England with her future sister-in-law was a bad thing. She enjoyed Thea’s company and the younger Queen definitely made up for the twelve hour board meeting, but leaving Oliver alone for four days and eighteen hours had caused a good deal of anxiety.

She should have known from the all too eager ‘of course I don’t mind if you take Thea,’ and his ‘we’ll get along just fine without you.’ Then his ‘I used to do this by myself you know,’ spoken with just enough attitude should have been a dead giveaway. Oliver never did do well with separating from her – forced or no.

Even so, his gentle urgings as she packed, his encouraging words as she expressed her worry at being away for so long were all meant to calm her nerves. It was her CEO duties that were taking her away, but while she was gone she would only worry about her nightly duties. And what could while she was gone.

It was only a weekend, Oliver, Thea, John, and Laurel all told her. What could possibly go wrong?

Felicity instantly cursed all of them for putting those words out into the universe. Their group of heroes was not in short supply of evil villains and masterminds trying to take over the city. The sheer audacity of them to test fate in such a way astounded her, and left her with a Texas sized ulcer as the turbulence on the flight to Merry Ole England rocked her and Thea side to side.

Thankfully they hadn’t run into any bad luck on the trip. Felicity had remarkably good meetings with their London office, and Thea’s girls’ weekend was more relaxing than she thought it would be. 

The team hadn’t even needed anything. Every time she called or texted they all seemed to be healthy, happy, and had no bullet or stab wounds. 

It was almost too good to be true, Felicity thought to herself as they pulled up to her and Oliver’s apartment building.

But the good weekend still couldn’t snuff out the feeling of dread she felt as she opened the front door to the loft, Thea at her side, and heard not a single sound.

It was completely silent, as if she and Thea were the only two present.

“See, and you were worried.” Thea laughed as she dropped her duffle to the floor unceremoniously. “I told you everything would be ok.”

Felicity shook her head as the first whiff hit her. Her arms shot out faster than she expected and took hold of Thea’s arm, stopping the younger Queen from going any further.

“Felicity, god, what has gotten into you?”

“Do you smell that?” Felicity asked, her nose in the air as she inhaled the scent even deeper.

There was no mistaking it for Felicity. It was light in the air, as if it originated hours ago, but Felicity wouldn’t miss that scent anywhere.

“Hmm,” Thea pondered as she took the smell for herself. “It smells like …”

Felicity took a step forward, her hand still grasped firmly around Thea’s arm, who was still trying to place the scent.

“It kinda smells like –“ 

“Chocolate chip cookies.” Felicity finished for her, her earlier feeling of dread taking root in her stomach as both women rounded the corner into the kitchen and dining area.

Thea choked on her laughter as Felicity took in a deep breath. Every inch of counter space was covered with chocolate chip cookies. The dining table was covered with different shapes of cakes and pies, and she was sure if she looked into the living room their coffee table would be covered with some other baked good.

“We really need to take his pinterest account away from him.” Thea whistled as she extracted herself from Felicity’s grasp to go and pick up a cooling cookie. “At least his anxiety hobby is something productive.”

Felicity glared at Thea, who paused, cookie halfway to her lips. “This is not productive, Thea.”

“He baked Felicity, there’s hardly a crime in warm and delicious baked goods for his future wife.”

“Thea, open the refrigerator and freezer.” Felicity felt herself lean against one of the kitchen chairs, hand to her head, already knowing what Thea would find when she opened the doors.

Thea didn’t bother to hold back a laugh as the doors opened wide. Felicity didn’t have to look and only shook her head in dismay.

Kidnappings, gunfire, and late night hero activities were what she could handle. Hostile corporate takeovers were becoming more and more familiar and easier to deal with. It was as though this whole new side to her was opened the day Oliver Queen brought a bullet riddled laptop to her small cubicle at Queen Consolidated.

What she couldn’t handle was leaving Oliver alone for one weekend and coming home to a loft full of baked goods and casserole dishes.

“He must have made enough casseroles to feed the entire apartment building.” Thea gestured to the fully stocked unit. “How did he even make that much while we were gone?”

“The damn crockpot.” Felicity groaned in response. She knew exactly how he was able to make that much food. “This is like when an owner leaves their dog for too long and the dog just rips apart the entire apartment. Or in this case, bakes. Everything.”

Luckily she was saved from Thea’s laughter as the sound of the door to the loft opening jarred them both. Oliver’s arrival, however, did not stop Thea from snickering in the corner while she finally took a bite of the cookie she had long since picked up.

“Hey.” He sounded so happy and relieved as he rounded the corner.

His eyes lit up as if their weekend apart had been longer than it was, as if seeing her was the first glimpse of sunlight he had witnessed in years.

It was almost enough to make her forget the bakery that exploded in her kitchen. 

“I thought you weren’t supposed to get in for another hour.” His smile didn’t dim as he leaned in to wrap his arms around her. “I was going to pick you up.”

“Felicity was anxious and got us on an earlier flight.” Thea spoke up from where she had remained out of sight, deftly swiping another cookie from the wire rack. “She was afraid that something bad had happened.”

Oliver didn’t miss the glance his sister made, unmistakably, to the kitchen around them. Felicity didn’t miss it either.

“Good thing she was wrong.” Thea finished with a wink as she took another bite. 

Felicity sighed as Oliver glanced around the kitchen, realization hitting him. 

“So you’ve been busy.”

Oliver had the decency to look only slightly ashamed at the mass of food around them.

“And I guess we won’t need to worry about dinner for like… a month.”

“Two.” Thea chimed in. “Although that noodle looking one looks really good, so maybe you could spare that for me to take?”

Felicity shot the younger girl another pointed glance.

“Actually, I just need to use the restroom.” Thea winked. “Freshen up from the plane ride, you know.”

As she passed Oliver’s shoulder, Felicity didn’t miss the murmured ‘good luck’ from sister to brother.

Once she was out of sight Oliver leaned down to cover Felicity’s lips with his own, a satisfied sigh vibrating between them.

“You have no idea how much I missed you.” He murmured as he broke away slightly, still close enough that their breath mingled together. “That was the longest weekend ever.”

Felicity nodded her head, a smile on her lips. “You baked. A lot.”

Oliver nodded, pulling away to scratch the back of his head. He seemed to survey the kitchen before looking back to her with wide, hopeful eyes.

“I wanted to make you dinner.” He told her bluntly.

“So you made every dinner, ever?”

He chuckled lightly before moving to the nearest counter top to check on the cookies displayed on the wire racks. Felicity caught sight of the plastic containers sitting on the island bar stools.

“I wanted to make you a special dinner.” He told her as he began moving cookies into one of the empty containers. “A welcome home dinner.”

“The last time you made me a special dinner you hid my engagement ring in a soufflé before your sister and Laurel interrupted up and brought us back home.” Felicity said, holding up her ring finger as proof. “What did you want to accomplish with this dinner? You already put a ring on it.”

Oliver rolled his eyes at her comment. “I missed you.”

Felicity, despite her objections to the state of her apartment, smiled. The warm feeling that tugged at her heart, the fullness she felt when he was near, rushed through her leaving behind a wake of calm.

“I started with homemade pasta.” Oliver told her simply. “But then I couldn’t find the perfect recipe so I kept trying different ones, which led to all the casseroles. Then I needed a desert and again, nothing seemed right…” 

Felicity raised her hand as she tried to follow his thought process. “Wait, pasta?”

This time Oliver turned away, guilt shading his cheeks.

“What happened to the homemade pasta, Oliver?”

Oliver turned back around, a plastic container full of cookies in his hands. “I didn’t have anything to hang the pasta on to dry.”

“Tell me you didn’t.” Felicity cringed thinking of how much of their apartment he used for cookies and cakes. “Tell me you didn’t use the beds upstairs.”

“I needed a flat surface.” He defended.

“What about the counter tops?” She cried out, trying not to laugh at the way he squirmed across from her. “Or the table? Or the coffee table? Or I don’t know, not making homemade pasta and just buying a box?”

“I had already made the cookies.” Oliver told her, but quickly continued as he saw her open her mouth once more. “Hey, you hate when I go out at night and get shot at right?”

“You are not comparing a weekend away to you, my fiancé, getting shot at on a nightly basis.” She brought her hand to her forehead.

“Well, you code and use your computers and are productive with your stress, right?” He urged, ignoring her comment. “Well this was me doing something with my stress.”

“So you’re saying that if I take any more business trips, this is what I have to expect when I come home?”

Oliver grinned with a shrug of his shoulders. “Could be worse.”

Felicity laughed, taking a step towards him until she was in his arms.

“I guess you’re right.” She consented, letting her head fall to his chest. “You could have remodeled something like Digg did when Lyla had that overseas job.”

It was true. If baking and cooking were Oliver’s coping strategies while she was away then she could probably count herself as fortunate. Eventually unable to fit in her wedding dress, but fortunate. She was pretty lucky, she thought as she wrapped her arms around him tighter.

“Hey guys, when did you change out the tile and repaint the bathroom?” Thea’s voice floated across the great room.

Felicity picked her head up and met Oliver’s guilty expression.

“Soo Digg came over to keep me company.”


	9. Antonio Smoak-Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olicity prompt: discussing baby or pet names (I will admit the title of this chapter is a tad bit misleading - sort of) This is pretty rough and definitely not proofread. I had to post it before I lost my nerve.

She didn’t think anything of it at first. The sharp draft that would waft through the bunker at odd hours. It was an old building. It had been through the Undertaking, Mirakuru soldiers on a rampage, and Oliver’s mayoral campaign - and was still standing. That was a firm achievement for any piece of architecture in this city.

But that draft just would not stop.

Finally, one night when it was just her and John left she begged him to find the source. It had to be somewhere nearby based on the pressure and temperature drop that happened. After twenty minutes of Felicity trying to convince John that they could to find the source of the draft, and another thirty designing a device fit to locate the source – all with the help of Curtis’s tech – they were off and running.

Well more like fast walking, really. High heels were tough enough as it was.

After barely even five minutes, their glorified remote control car with a camera attached on top found the alleged source. It was a small crack in the foundation that led to a very small hole in the brick.

By the end of the night John had boarded it up and the draft had stopped. 

But two nights later the noises started.

It was almost like a scratching noise that was almost just as annoying as the draft was. Constantly scratching just as she was typing an important code or routing the team to a designated location. It was on her last nerve – and the camera car couldn’t even find the source this time. This went on for two weeks. 

As Felicity waited for their new recruits and John to filter in for the night, she heard it again. Slamming her hands down on her desk, Oliver jumped and directed a curious expression her way. Normally she should be embarrassed for reacting this way to a noise, but it had been two weeks of scratching. 

“Two weeks!” She cried out, grabbing at the sides of her hair with a groan. “If I knew I was exchanging that stupid draft for the torture of that noise, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

Oliver turned away from his work bench and made his way to the railing to look up at her. “Do you want me to see if I can find it? It’s probably just a rat that got stuck inside or something.”

Felicity couldn’t hold back the scream she let out as she jumped from her seated position at her chair. Oliver could count the very few times Felicity had jumped that far and that fast since her injury, and couldn’t hide the laugh he felt in his chest as she came to what must have been her perceived safe space on top of her chair. 

“A rat?!” Felicity squeaked. “Seriously?!”

Oliver chuckled once more. “It’s not so bad. Poor little guy probably got stuck inside when you and John boarded up the hole in the wall.”

“So this is my fault?” Felicity twisted precariously on her chair, trying to stop it from spinning wildly. “And what makes you think it’s a boy rat? It could be a girl.” 

Oliver rolled his eyes before proceeding to search for their new house guest.

“I just assumed that with how much you’ve been complaining about how annoying it’s been you would have guessed it to be male.” Oliver joked, raising his eyebrows in a halfhearted challenge.

Felicity glared at him before easing herself back to a seated position, with her legs tucked firmly to her chest.

“Yuck it up, Mayor Handsome.”

Oliver smiled at her attempt before seeing his intended target. “Got it.”

Holding the rat up by the little scuff it had, Oliver showed Felicity the source of her annoyance.

“Oh, ew.” She winced and tried to spin away. “Just take it outside.”

“Aren’t you even going to look at it?” Oliver mused, taking a step closer to the platform. “You two have been spending quite a bit of time together lately. He’s been keeping you company while we’re all out on patrols.”

Felicity turned a little, but kept her eyes fixed on the wall opposite her.

“If anything,” Oliver teased. “He’s like your little mouse protector.”

Oliver saw Felicity’s shoulders relax as she turned back to Oliver, a faint note of hesitance in her posture as she looked at the rat in Oliver’s grasp.

The rat looked panicked, and rightfully so. It was probably nice and warm wherever it had been hiding. It probably used that boarded up hole to get inside when the temperature dropped outside. It was trying to keep itself warm.

“I guess I’ll just take little Norbert here back outside.”

Felicity scoffed, pausing Oliver’s movements. “Norbert? Really?” 

“Yeah. He looks like a Norbert.”

Felicity stood from her seat and took a few quick steps over to where Oliver stood. “If anything he looks like an Antonio.”

To this Oliver rolled his eyes. “If you make fun of Norbert, I get to veto Antonio.” 

Felicity took a halting step back. “I’m sorry, since when did we elicit veto power?”

“Since you didn’t like my name, which was a very good one.” Oliver told her as he moved the rat to the palm of his hands.

“If Norbert is a good name then Antonio must be the best name ever.” Felicity reached out and began to softly stroke the animal, easing it into a state of calm. 

“Are we seriously arguing over the name for a rat?” Oliver asked, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

“Only because you have crummy taste in names.” Felicity told him without taking her eyes off the rat. “We should probably get him a cage and some food. Do you think Rory is already on his way?”

“Felicity,” Oliver drew out. “We can’t keep the rat.”

Felicity withdrew her hand with a wide mouth. “Shh, he’ll hear you.”

“Felicity, we have to take him back outside. Where he belongs.”

Felicity looked from the rat back to Oliver, then back to the rat. As soon as she raised her eyes back to him he knew he had lost. He did tell her once, if she was asking, he’d do it. 

And that was how Antonio Smoak-Queen, code name The Great Mouse Protector, became the unofficial mascot of Team Arrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm trying, little by little, to get back into writing. Hopefully I'll post something again soon if this goes over well. I've been struggling for quite some time with writers block and due to work I have not been able to keep up with Arrow. Hopefully this is the start of more to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!


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